Al-Faisaly drops two foreign players before decisive Al-Ittifaq clash!

After two defeats against Al-Hilal and Shabab Al-Ahli

Al-Ittihad coach Jens Wissing has sprung a surprise just hours before the eagerly awaited clash against Al-Ettifaq, cutting two foreign players from his plans entirely.

A special source revealed to "Arriyadiyah" newspaper that Wissing left out Senegal's Dion Lopy and Serbia's Karlo Simic from the squad that departed for Dammam at midday on Monday, ahead of Tuesday's nine o'clock clash against Al-Ettifaq in the tenth round of the Saudi Roshn League.

The German named just eight foreign players for the trip to the Eastern Province, the maximum the regulations allow: Serbia's Predrag Rajkovic, Portugal's Danilo Pereira, Algeria's Houssem Aouar, the Netherlands' Steven Bergwijn and his compatriot Georginio Wijnaldum, Morocco's Youssef En-Nesyri, Nigeria's George Ilenikhena, and Colombia's Richard Rios.

Midfielder Ahmed Al-Ghamdi returned to the travelling squad. He had missed the clash against UAE side Shabab Al-Ahli in the second round of the AFC Champions League Elite last Monday, but has now recovered from a calf muscle injury.

Al-Ittihad head into the game under immense pressure to claw back lost points. They went down 3-2 to Al-Hilal in the Clasico a fortnight ago on Saturday, then fell 2-1 to Shabab Al-Ahli in Asia. Those results have left them fourth in the Roshn League on 17 points, five behind the leaders, with a postponed fixture against Al-Shabab still to play.